Missing 14-year-old vanished after chat on popular gaming app, family says

OLIVE BRANCH, Miss. — A 14-year-old Mississippi boy has been missing for days, and his family fears he may have been lured by someone he met on a popular gaming app.

Alicia and John Aubrey Peal II say they haven't slept in days and check the front door constantly for any signs of their son, John Aubrey Peal III, who disappeared sometime between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

"I keep going into his bedroom to try to see if he came in," his mother said.

His younger sister Kimberly was the last person to see him. She says he was in his room Tuesday night on the phone chatting with someone via the Discord app — an app his parents knew nothing about.

By Wednesday morning, his window was open and his wallet, phone and charger gone.

According to the app's website, it's a voice and text chat for gamers. He showed the app to his sister before he disappeared.

"He said you can just type in the show you like and there's, like, a whole bunch of group chats on it."

The family says their son is not the type to leave home, and he doesn't have many friends. In fact, they say his favorite thing to do is sit in the house and play video games.

They're worried he may have been lured away from home by someone using the app and they have this message for their son.

"When you get to anywhere, you go to Kroger. Scream and get to somebody. Somebody will help you," his father said.

But there's one person in this family who remains optimistic. His little sister says she is "scared and hopeful."

But as the start of his first year of high school inches closer and closer, his family, can't help but feel heartbroken.